Friday, June 1, 2018

Rain Everyday But Some Love it!

We emptied the rain gauge several times so probably 8 inches or more of rain in May. Thankfully, the rains did not come in all at once so that we did have flooding like other areas of Virginia.

Spiderwort (Tradescantia) is a native wildflower that seems to love all the rain. Everyday for about a month, the flowers bloom and then fade by the afternoon. A friend gave me some spiderwort and they have done well, establishing another patch a few feet away. I am not sure which spiderwort species this is but my Field Guide to Wildflowers by the Audubon Society states that the Zigzag Spiderwort (Tradescantia subaspera) is found in Virginia. The guide also states that "Spiderworts are so named because the angular leaf arrangements suggests a squatting spider." I don't understand that.

The flowers are so beautiful with the bright yellow stamens. When trying to do a watercolor of them, I had to use the paint straight from the tube (See my first post on spiderworts) to get the bright yellow.

The native wildflower attracts native bees. These smaller bees (of which we have hundreds of different species in Virginia) are not attracted to most flowers I buy such as phlox or pansies).

Daisy, our golden retriever, also seems to love the rain. Throw her a ball and she does not mind getting drenched.